The City of Aethyrmont
Far in the Southern Seas, a mountain of marble rests in the ocean This mountain of Marble has a long and bloody history as it passed hands, before recently being resettled. It is currently the seat of King Driez Renderra I, and the political center of the Aethyric Empire. History The City of Aethyrmont has a bloody history. It was built upon the bones of humans, a towering monument designed to act as a weapon in the name of a God long forgotten. The weapon has since broken down from decades of work, the city rising again with new banners. Foundation In year 200 of the Fourth Age, Videntys the Immortal, better known at this time as Kukyo Tsutai the Mahjarrat, built the city of Astropolis. It was built in a Second Age style of Architecture, painted marble and ornate columns towering toward the sky. The actual contruction was designed to hide Videntys' weapon, a large runic shaft designed to cause an explosion capable of ripping toward the Elder Halls of Gielinor when complete. The Mahjarrat slowly built his city, alchemizing sandstone, coral, and the bedrock of the ocean into marble, piled upon a small and rocky crag. Charging with energy, he built a tower in the center, magically polishing the stones to make roads. The city was originally built in Saradomin's symbol, a way to draw zealous Saradominists to his city. Piece by piece, the Mahjarrat built his city high. Videntys ultimately crowned himself ruler, alchemising food for the populace to be self-sustainable. The city reached five square miles after centuries of hard labour. With the tower being charged by the dead of the city throughout the construction, Videntys slowly realised he needed a new source of energy, rather than waste his Citizens. Through technological advances, Videntys designed weaponry by the fifth age capable of mass conquest, recognizeable today as running off Divine Energy gathered from Elven Crystal fragments. Expansion Videntys was a harsh, militaristic ruler of the faith. With his four sons, he sought to capture people from outside the city for use in sacrifice, in attempt to survive without attending a ritual. By sacrificing them in a way that left the body's energy intact until it powered his stone, Videntys managed to gain a lot of power through wiping out the populations on the surrounding Islands, and drugging his own to believe it was a worthy cause. Soon, Videntys found his way to the Renderra Archipelago, and demanded tribute through his agents. With Lady Natalie rejecting it, he sent war. Conquest The Astropolites came in wave after wave, but they were repelled by the Renderra Forces. Lord Lucius, before Lady Natalie, had bolstered the army in defence of the Isles in case of a Kandarin Invasion. With the defences present, Natalie managed to cause a large pushback, sending the Astropolites into a frenzy. Soon, the people who would one day make the founding members of the Order of the Raven infiltrated the city, where Natalie got the architectural designs nessacery to know of the weapon. Worried for her own safety and others, Natalie had a massive push to claim the land come, but the drugged Astropolites were willing to fight to the death. Roughly one in four were taken captive, with heavy losses on both sides. Many of the Astropolites escaped to another Island, but they later abandoned their post after the death of Videntys. To ensure the weapon within the tower was destroyed, Natalie had Dwarves break it down until it tipped into the ocean. Conversion Over the next fifty years, the City was rebuilt regardless of the low population. The foundries and production quality on the island were too valuable to pass up, becoming a large producer of weaponry for the Renderra. When Lady Natalie stepped down, and Driez rose as Lord, he payed more notice to the Island's much larger space and defences. With Natalie's research into the Ancient Arrenda, Driez soon discovered that there was a promised land, a mountain of white for the Renderra. While this was believed to be White Wolf Mountain, and as a result Taverley, Driez instead interpretted it as this uncontested Island-City. With this knowledge in hand, Driez began to convert the city for use as a Renderra settlement. Modern By Year Five of the Sixth Age, Driez had adapted the artistry of the city to suit it's new Guthixian ownership. Much of the infrasturcture had changed, needing heavy repairs. It was Driez who added a composter, and modified what was the location of the Grand Tower into a heavily religious citadel for Aethyric Druidism. Caelan soon moved the Soulwood, expending a large amount of their power to move the sapling to the new location. Set atop the mountain, the lone soulwood is now a symbol of the city. A strange event occured in Year Ten of the Sixth Age, as a large burst of energy erupted from Aethyrmont. Since then, the Citadel has had high amounts of divine power around it. Architecture The architecture of Aethyrmont is built to produce an artificial nature, offering as much space for crops as possible with inspiration from Taverley's naturalistic appearance, but also making use of the Aquaducts and rain. The buildings are usually flat-roofed, with a few feet of soil placed on top. The soil is held in place by a rimmed roof, a Wushankii style "Pagoda" adapted to a Second Age style of architecture. Columns and arches hold the roof up with bricks to enclose the structures from the wind. Some people paint the marble for their houses, but possibly due to seeing Falador and the association of white with purity, many more leave the marble bare. Politics Politics on Aethyrmont are usually divided among the Religious politics, and the Royal Politics of the first and second estates. Driez rules with a council of experts and advisers to make the best decisions he can with the land he works with. Outlying islands have appointed Lords, ruling with their own authority to be called on by Driez. Due to the common practice of Renderra Unity, this is not a leap of faith as much as an act of trust that remains unbroken. As per usual, the Renderra carry Guthixian Tolerance with them. So long as you respect nature, and harm nobody else physically, you are free to do as you please. However, the punishments for harming another person are harsh, the only thing worse than public execution and being composted, would be branding a person, marking them as a lawbreaker and pushing them off to sea in a small raft. Due to distance, it is believed nobody has survived this. Necromancy, of course, is entirely banned. Those who practice it are burned to death in order to prevent them from rising up again. Places of Importance The Aethyrmont Citadel Built from stone in blocks surrounding the marble pillars, the Citadel is complete with Iron doors, stationed at the top of the Aethyrmont mountain. Ope air from the inside, a full throne room sits before the soulwood tree. Behind the tree is an altar, crafted out of Elven Crystal, and charged with a large supply of Divine Energy. The Citadel acts as a religious and political center of the Empire, where all of the Royalty live while on Aethyrmont. In addition, the Elven Crystal and Divine Energy keep the "Elfderra" or "Renderrajarrat" sustained for a long time. The Academy by the Sea Main Article: The City of Aethyrmont/Academy Aethyrmont also houses and academy, where students can learn astrology, mathematics, medicine, engineering, history, languages, culture, or military commanding. The Academy does not teach magic, however, nor any form of combat, but does pride itself in accuracy in its subject matter. It is a strong source of income for Aethyrmont. The Academy has a rather large library, open to the public. It's one building has many little towers, for the purpose of seperating the various schools. Port and Docks The Port of Aethyrmont is massive. All corners of the island are surrounded by docks open to traders, with massive walls then blocking entrance to the city from attack. The wooden docks surround the perimeter of the island, offering over seven miles to dock upon. Utilities The ability of the public to access clean water was designed into Aethyrmont since it was still Astropolis, but the new work by Driez's workers to create a comprehensive steam system and compost system is new. Water flows around repeatedly, through the water plant under the Aethyrmont. Aquaducts The Aquaducts surround the city, watering plants across the way and providing water close to people's homes. Every bit of space possible is used to collect water for the Aquaducts, usually by sending the excess through the sewer system. Sewage Ducts The Underground sewage ducts run from fast-flowing water, brushing away the human waste that enters the system. As it reaches the steam plant, the water is forced to seperate from the solid waste by forcing one down and the other up based on density of compact material. A series of pumps and filters cleanse the water both physically and spiritually before it is sent back out to the populace through aquaducts. Compost System Human and food waste, however, are pushed toward the Composting center. The Composting center lets it sit for years, slowly converting it into powerful manure compost. This compost is then delivered across the city by wagon-cart to ensure the crops growing on buildings grow strong and bountiful. Metal Foundry The Metal Foundry is made to produce sturdy steel through the power of a blast furnace. Much of the heat of the furnace is channeled to help boil and cleanse the recycled water, which works well considering the foundry is constantly producing metal for use in the Empire or sale. People of Importance *Videntys the Eternal - Architect and Founder of Astropolis. *King Driez Renderra I - Current ruler of the Aethyric Empire, set up on Aethyrmont. *Prince Aeson Renderra - Lord General of Aethyrmont and the Empire. *Queen Aegle Renderra nee Adrasteia - Wife of Driez, a known Battlemage and founder of the Academy. *Crown Prince Alcides Renderra - Heir of the Aethyric Empire, Prince of Starfall Keep. *Caelan of the Soulwood - Head of Religion, Guardian of the Soulwood Temple. *Natalie Renderra - Archdruidess and Keeper of the Sword. Category:Renderra Category:Location Category:Custom Content Category:In-Character History Category:Military